This invention relates to a gas generator for an inflatable vehicle safety bag mounted proximate the front passanger seat next to the driver for protecting the passanger from collision impacts.
A variety of so-called hybrid type gas generators have been proposed for inflatable passenger safety bags, in which high pressure gas in a canister bomb is released by firing a squib, and wherein the quantity of gas is increased by the gases produced by the squib and the heat expansion caused thereby. Gas generators of this type involve complex mechanisms, however, and it is difficult to perform maintenance checks such as for gas leaks. Furthermore, such generators are bulky and heavy, and are thus poorly adapted for use in small automobiles. It is also a requirement that a child, an elderly person, or a woman holding a child in the passenger seat suffer no injury when the safety bag is inflated. This requirement is best met by minimizing or relieving the inflation impact of the bag, which is difficult to implement with the hybrid type gas generators of the prior art.